In Love and War
by fieryminds
Summary: Bella returns to an ailing father in New York after almost a year. She must also face a certain green-eyed man. A man she had once run away from. Will love prevail? Canon pairings. MOBWARD.
1. chapter 1

**A/N: So I decided to give this idea a shot. I know this chapter's short. I promise future chapters will be longer. Give it a read and let me know what you think.**

 **CHAPTER 1**

A car honked incessantly behind me.

 _Couldn't whoever it is see the red light?_

The red light finally turned green and I let out a sigh of relief. I needed to get used to traffic in the city. I had been away for way too long.

As I pulled up to the building my father resided in, I couldn't stop my hands from shaking. I mentally scolded myself. I needed to be strong for him. Seeing me weak would only effect him in an unwanted way. Things were bad enough anyway.

The nurse let me in, giving me a sympathetic smile. I wanted to smile back but I couldn't.

 _I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry._

"Bells! You're here!" my father cried out when he saw me.

"Hey Cha-dad," I said as I took in his condition.

He must have lost at least 30 pounds. His eyes had dark- almost purple- circles under them. He had lost almost all of his hair.

"Dad!" I cried out.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? I could have been right by your side. You look so..."

"Don't go crying over your old man now. I am absolutely fine," he said, noticing my teary eyes.

I gave him a small smile.

I had got to know just last week that my father was battling lung cancer, a fact that he had kept hidden from me for almost a whole year. While it was true that I had a rocky relationship with him, my affection for him had always remained constant.

"It's time for him to take his medicines," the nurse, who had opened the door, said softly from behind me.

"They make me sleepy. I'll catch up with you tomorrow morning. Why don't you settle in? Take a shower. Take some rest. Did you have dinner yet? Why don't you order a pizza? Angela, order a pizza for her, please. She looks rundown. Pizza always makes everything better," Dad rambled on.

"Dad, relax, I'll be fine. Take some rest," I said as I leaned down to kiss him on the forehead.

"Don't baby me," Charlie grunted, but a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I settled into a guestroom after a long hot shower. It had been a long and tiring day. It had been a long and tiring couple of weeks.

I was finishing up my second novel when I was informed about Charlie's condition. I had not talked to him in a long time following the big blow out. It was all forgotten as soon as I received the news. I knew we still had to talk about a lot of things but they all seemed so insignificant now.

I sighed as I looked out at the city through the window. This place brought back a lot of memories. _Too many memories._ My heart clenched.

Piercing green eyes passed through my mind and I sighed again. One would think that I won't be thinking about _him_ after such a long time. It was insane. We didn't even have an actual relationship or anything.

I knew that I would have to face him again sometime soon, but that didn't make things easier. At all.

I turned off the lights and pulled my weary body under the covers. Those piercing green eyes and crooked smile engulfed me as I slowly drifted to unconsciousness.

 **A/N What do you think? Should I continue? Drop a review. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: OH.MY.GOD. THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS/FAVS/FOLLOWS. I honestly wasn't expecting anything at all, specially since this is my first ever fanfic and the chapter was a rather short one. I'm so glad that you guys liked it.**

 ***does awkward happy dance***

 ***remembers I can't dance***

 ***continues anyway***

 **Anyway here's chapter 2. Like I had promised, this one is longer. Hope you like it. =)**

 **CHAPTER 2**

 _"Go ahead. I'll make it home on my own. Don't worry about me."_

 _"Bella, you don't have a ride. I'm supposed to be dropping you off," Alice argued._

 _"Ali, for how long have you been pining after that guy? He's right here. He wants to talk to you. What kind of best friend would I be if I take you away from him because of something like this?" I gave her a no nonsense stare._

 _"Alriiiight. Fine. But you'll at least send me a text as soon as you get home, okay?" Alice sighed, giving in._

 _"Yes, ma'am. Now go. Don't keep him waiting any longer," I said as I winked at her._

 _I gave her a quick goodbye hug._

 _"Oh and I almost forgot to tell you. Be safe," I added with another wink._

 _I snickered as Alice's face flamed up._

 _Alice and I had gone out for drinks after a busy week. It had been a while since we had hung out. We were complaining about college when Jasper showed up. Alice had been crushing on him for quite a while. He was in one of her classes but they had never really talked to each other outside campus. Well, until now._

 _I was making my way out of the club when I walked into something solid. Strong hands gripped my shoulders and steadied me._

 _"Sorry. I wasn't looking..." the words died in my throat as I looked up at the owner of the aforementioned strong hands._

 _He was beautiful. Everything about him was beautiful. But what caught my gaze were his eyes. Intense. Green._

 _My eyes travelled up to the messy bronze hair sitting atop his head and I felt the sudden urge to run my fingers through them._

 _How odd._

 _He gave a stiff nod and let go of my arms. I missed them immediately._

 _Again, how odd._

 _I stood unmoving for a few seconds after he walked past me. I shook my head and made my way out._

 _"It must be the alcohol_ ," I muttered to myself.

 _~~ILW~~ILW~~ILW~~ILW~~ILW~~ILW~~ILW~~ILW~~_

I had breakfast with Angela the next morning. She was a sweet girl. I was glad that Charlie at least had someone like her looking after him all this time.

"So, Dad, how are you feeling? Are you in any pain? Is there anything that I can do?" I helplessly asked my father.

"Bella, relax. You don't want grey hair at this age, so you? Just sit with me and talk. Tell me what's been going on in your life. I have missed you, you know," he said, his voice cracking at the rare display of affection.

"I have missed you too, Dad. Why didn't you tell me earlier? I would have dropped everything to be here with you," I said sadly.

"I didn't want to worry you. You were working on your novel. How is that coming along? And, honestly, I wasn't very sure if you really wanted to hear from me..."

"Dad, come on. I know we had a fight. And I know that there are things that we need to talk about. But why would I not want to hear from you? All those things seem so insignificant now."

Charlie gave me a sad look.

"We will talk and sort out everything. But later. Watch some baseball with your old man now," Charlie said.

I smiled at him and turned on the television.

Watching baseball with Charlie is how he and I used to bond over the years. I had way too many memories of mom shaking her head at us as we cheered and shouted at a television screen.

I settled in beside Charlie, feeling a wave of nostalgia pass over me.

~~ _ILW~~ILW~~ILW~~ILW~~ILW~~ILW~~ILW~~ILW~~_

My phone rang, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"BELLAAA! You're finally back in town. We _need_ to meet. _Right nowww,"_ an excited Alice screamed into my ear.

"Calm down, pixie. I've missed you too. We'll meet soon. I promise," I said as I chuckled softly.

"No 'soon.' I am coming over right now. I'll take you out. You are staying with Charlie,

right? God. How is Charlie doing?"

"I don't know, Ali. He tells me not to worry. I'm.. I'm scared, Ali," my voice cracked.

"Bella," Alice said softly.

"Everything is going to be okay. I'll be right there," she added softly.

"Alright. Love you."

"Love you too, Bells."

I looked at the open laptop in front of me after Alice hung up. I was stuck. I was nearing the end of my novel. I knew how I wanted to end the story but I just couldn't find the right words in order to move forward.

 _Does Troy step out of the house now? Does he meet Lucy tonight? Should I lengthen it a little bit more? Does that even sound like something Troy would do? Does this seem too cliché?_

I closed the laptop with a groan of frustration. I needed a break. I was getting nowhere like this.

Alice arrived soon. I realised how much I had truly missed her when she attack-hugged me.

I smiled as Alice hugged Charlie.

Charlie was quite fond of Alice but he hadn't seen her much after I had moved out of the city. I suddenly felt guilty. Had I been too harsh and selfish with my decisions? I had earlier thought that they were justified but I wasn't so sure now.

We decided to go out for lunch. The numerous options for eating out was something that I had definitely missed about New York.

Alice recommended a quant Italian place that she had discovered the previous week. I gladly aquisced. I could definitely use some Italian flavours in my life right now.

"How's Jasper?" I questioned Alice as we took our seats.

"He's amazing, Bella! He is visiting his parents right now. He had asked me to come along but I couldn't miss out on catching up with you."

"Al, I would have been here when you returned," I scolded her but a smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

"Hush. None of that. Jazz has got a great set of parents anyway. They'll understand. I already love them."

"Aw, I am so happy for you! Look at you all grown up," I said as I wiped a fake tear.

"Shut up!" She threw her napkin at me.

"Really, Ali, I am happy for you."

"I know. I have missed doing this with you."

"I have missed it too, Al. If I ever move again, I'm packing you and Jasper along with my luggage."

We fell into easy conversation. I had been fearing that things would somehow be different between us. We had stayed in touch through voice calls and video calls but that had never been enough. It made me happy that nothing had changed in our friendship.

The waiter winked at me when he gave us the check. He had been giving suggestive smiles and looks the entire time we were there.

Alice giggled as she held up the phone number he had slid in.

"He's cute. You should give him a call," she said.

"I'm good," I retorted.

"Perhaps a booty call then? I don't think he'll have any objections to that."

"Alice!"

"What? Don't give me that look. Wait. Is there someone else? Are you seeing someone? Is he hot? Is he good in bed? Is he even a he? It's cool if you want to date a girl. Sexy even."

"Alice!" I struck my forehead with my palm.

"You didn't answer any of my questions."

"No, Alice, I am not seeing anyone. I am not particularly interested in seeing anyone right now either."

"The last time you were interested in a guy was almost a year ago. You were still here. You never gave me any details," she shot me an accusing glare.

"I'm sorry, Ali. I really don't want to talk about it..."

"Relax, babe. I'm not mad. You'll tell me when you're ready."

I shot her a grateful smile as we started making our way out of the restaurant.

As we walked down the street, Alice stopped all of a sudden. Her eyes were on a bracelet in the window of a shop.

"Oh my gosh! I have found the love of my life! Bella, we need to go in there and buy it right now. It won't take long, I swear," Alice said as she almost jumped up.

"Woah. Alright. Why don't you go ahead and get it? I'll wait out here," I told her.

"Are you sure? Okay then!"

I shook my head as I watched Alice skip towards the entrance of the shop.

I looked at the window of the jewelry store. The bracelet was indeed beautiful. My eyes found an emerald pendant. I looked away.I reacted in far too abnormal ways to that color.

" _Bella?_ " a voice filled with disbelief called out my name. A voice filled with velvety undertones. A voice that I would recognise anywhere.

I gulped as I turned to face the one person I had been hoping to avoid all this time.

 **A/N: Sooo... what do you think?**

 **What exactly went down between Bella and the green-eyed man?**

 **What had happened between Charlie and Bella?**

 **What's going to happen next?**

 **Tell me what you think. Liked it? Hated it? Drop a review and let me know your thoughts**.


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